


The Stranger II

by almygdala



Category: Original Work
Genre: 261 Words, Death, Flash Fiction, Gothic, Mild Gore, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Rain, Religious Imagery & Symbolism, Short, Short Story, Southern Gothic, Storms, White Horse - Freeform, gentle horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-15 12:16:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29808291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/almygdala/pseuds/almygdala





	The Stranger II

The last time your father’s gun fired, the smell of mud was thick in the humid July air. He had his rifle slung around his neck like he always did, hanging heavy on his back like a cross, and you suspected he was comforted by the weight of it, and by the certainty that it would always fire- and fire fast.

It had rained for three days before that night, and the dirt roads had collapsed into long tracks of sinking mud, sucking at the hooves of horses and the boots of working men like leeches. And you and your brother were there with him, crouched in the shadows of dripping trees, waiting for blood to be drawn. A stranger and his white horse were the first to cross you. The animal had been spooked some time before, slid in the mud, and twisted one of its bony legs. It was limping alongside its man, who was shrouded in heavy, wet rags. You father said he looked well off enough; just alive was well off enough to him. 

So the three of you slunk forward like eels through murky water, and your father took the lead as he held the man up. The stranger was down in a few seconds, swallowed up by the watery ground, but his horse was not resigned to go. Your brother flung you off the road, and he jumped down after. Your daddy’s skull was in pieces when you looked, the hooves bloody, and up in the dark sky was the last place his gun fired.


End file.
